All Alone - 9. Alo Chapter 9

When I arrived at the roadhouse, where a large number of trucks were parked, waiting for the road to reopen, there was a bit of a gathering happening on the bridge, just past the roadhouse, so I slowed right down as I approached, the bridge, stopping just short of it.

About a quarter of the way down the bridge, the offending vehicle had broken down, no doubt because it tried to go through the water on the bridge at high speed, even with huge signs across the road saying that it was closed. The river was flowing very strongly and was just over the top of the bridge, and two men were arguing as they stood near the vehicle.

I backed up, away from the commotion, and parked on the side of the highway, then walked back to the bridge, where several truckers were standing around watching the side show, as I heard one trucker call it.

“You have anything to do with this lot?” one of the truckers asked me as I approached them, “Sort of. I am Lloyd, from nearby Coral Coast Station, these idiots, cut the chains of our locked front gate, ignored our huge sign saying the station is closed till further notice because of the cyclone, and drove through the northern internal road.

They may have come across one of the other bosses, as they came roaring back to the main gate, and crashed through the fence and headed this way, so I just followed them at a legal pace” I replied, just then one of the arguing men stopped shouting and the other one continued, and right away I recognised the voice.

“Can some of you back me up please, I need to talk to that joker” I said quietly, and not one, but four truckers followed me as I started to cross the bridge, getting my work boots soaked from river water.

“You are the idiot that kept telephoning yesterday, wanting to come up to the station to fish and surf, and I told you that the station was closed, don’t deny it because I recognise your distinctive voice” I said to the shouting man, who stopped shouting at his friend, when I was talking loudly to him.

“Not only did you ignore my recommendations not to come up, but you broke into the property with bold cutters, trespassing onto the station, which is closed to all visitors, and driving around like a maniac on the station, cutting me off at the road junction” I said to the man, who just stared at me then smiled.

“I can go where ever I want to, it is crown land, so anyone can go onto the station” the man boasted to me, “You know what, you are more of an idiot than I thought you were yesterday, it may be crown land but it is leasehold land, which means it is private property” I said as I spotted Angela and Mathew approaching, and they were smiling when they saw the group of heavy weights I had for support.

“Furthermore, you have ignored directives of the state’s emergency services and local council. As of 1pm yesterday, all roads, including the North west coastal highway, were officially closed, from Nanutarra Roadhouse to the north, all the way down to the Overlander Roadhouse and Shark Bay road to the south.

I recall you saying on the phone yesterday, that you were coming up from Geraldton, which would have been a lie, as you would not have got past the closed road blocks in time, so you were already in or near Carnarvon, when the road blocks started to happen” I said, and I nodded to Angela.

“My name is Angela, I am an owner of Coral Coast Station that you broke into today, and illegally trespassed, I am giving you official notice here and now, that you and your friend are permanently banned from entering and staying on the station, if you attempt to do so, then you will be detained and handed over to the police.

Now hand over your Identification” Angela said in a very mean and forceful voice. When the two men refused, the four truckies stepped forward and one grabbed the men’s arms, while the other retrieved the wallets, and handed them over to me.

Pulling out my mobile, I photographed the driver’s licenses, then the two men, and the license plate of their car, then a wider shot of the car on the bridge, before handing back the driver’s licenses and wallets back to their owners. “You had no right to take our wallets and take down our details’ one of the men demanded, and Angela smiled, which confused me a little.

He may not have the authority, but I do, I am still a casual employee of the department of Primary Industries, of which all cattle stations in WA come under that jurisdiction, as such as an officer of the department, I have the authority to record any details of any person who breaks any laws on state crown land.

I am also able to inform you that you will receive a summons to appear in court on a number of charges, I also have the right to search your car” Angela said as she stepped closer towards the car and peered in.

“Do you have a licence for that rifle in your car, and do you have a permit to carry it into crown land? Angela asked, I have a gun license, and you don’t need a permit to go onto crown land” the man spat back in anger, “you are quite wrong there, sir. You also have the rifle unsecured, which is another offence, more so if I find that the gun is loaded, and I find any ammunition that is not secured, Angela stated.

By now I was grinning while enjoying the show, as was Matt, while the two offending men were now surrounded by big truckers, with nowhereto escape. “You sir, may I ask you to be a witness while I check this rifle” Angela said when she pointed to a not so solid built trucker standing to the side-lines, also enjoying the show, and he nodded his head in agreement, and Angela reached for her leather gloves and put them on, and nodded to Matt before opening the door to the vehicle.

This is when I realised that Matt had his mobile out and was recording everything on video, as he stepped around and past the offenders, to get a better recording of Angela opening the door and reaching for the rifle. Pulling it out, she opened the breech, and checked it, then she closed the breech, pointed it upwards and squeezed the trigger, which made a loud click noise, meaning it was empty.

Placing the gun in the vehicle roof, Angela reached into the vehicle and opened the glove box, were she found two packets of ammunition, suitable for the rifle, when I heard a buzzing noise and looked up, I spotted a small plane circling the area, then it turned northwards, and turned again as he came down lower, and landed on the highway, stopping just before the turn off into the roadhouse, and out stepped three police officers.

“Can you hand these two idiots, I mean men, over to the police for me please gentlemen” Angela asked the truckers, who had no choice but to obey the request, and they soon found themselves handcuffed and sitting on the side of the highway, as the third police officer, with the rank of senior sergeant, approached Angela.

“Hello Angela, it has been a while since I last saw you, keeping the place safe again I see” the officer said to Angela with a big smile, as she handed over the rifle and ammunition. “That is all I have found so far, just from peering into the car and opening the glovebox after seeing the rifle” Angela stated, they also broke into my cattle station this morning, using bolt cutters to get access, then drove erratically and dangerously on the station” Angela said.

“Thanks for that, we will add that to the list of offences, including driving when the roads are officially closed, say hello to Jeremy for me, and how is your boy going, he is at Uni now isn’t he?” the police senior sergeant said, which caught my attention, “yes he is, Nicholas is in his second year of agriculture business studies this year, as he finished his high school a year early.

We don’t see much of him lately, as he likes to hang out with his friends, instead of coming home to work on the station, he is quite an independent young man now, part time job, and full time studies” Angela replied.

“Well I will leave you to clean up from the cyclone, I was told that it went straight over the top of you?” the officer said, “yes it did, we only have our main house, and the visitors centre, plus the machinery shed still standing, the shearing shed is barely standing, and the rest have been totally flattened” Angela replied, “Oh I’m sorry to hear that, any stock losses?” the officer replied.

“Not sure yet, we were interrupted from doing the checks, when these idiots turned up, by the way what happened to the cyclone, we have lost all communications, with just two smaller generators operational, as our main generator power plant burnt down last night, and was only discovered after dawn this morning” Angela replied.

“Apparently, it stopped right over the top of you, when it did, it was a category 5 cyclone, eventually it turned and headed back out to sea, and as it did, it reduce its strength and is now a category 3 cyclone, heading further out so sea, just west of Dirk Hartog Island, they had a fair bit of damage near there, mostly the caravan park at Denham” the officer said.

Once the drama was over, Angela turned to Matt and I, “Right lets’ get back to work shall we” she said to me, and I headed back to my vehicle and called into the roadhouse for a cool drink, before heading up the Exmouth Road to the northern gate, where I checked the lock which was fine, and I swapped over the signs. On the way back to the main gate, I kept a watch on the road for any debris from the cyclone, and to see if any fences were damaged.

Once at the main gate, I changed the sign over, and locked the gate, before heading back to the homestead. Where I left my vehicle in the undercover area, and swapped over to the buggy, and with Angus beside me we hitched up the stations large trailer, and began to pick up all the rubbish that was laying around the place, starting with all the corrugated iron sheeting from the shearing shed, which I stacked up into a neat pile, in the shearing shed, once the trailer was full.

With the roof of the shed now the right way up on the ground, I found some steel pickets and chains, and I secured the shed roof, so it won’t blow around and cause any more damage. Next, I started on cleaning up the guest cottage, moving the roof sheeting, and all the wooden framing to the shearing shed, for reuse at some stage.

The wall sheeting, and all the ruined furniture, and any everything else scattered, I stacked up into one big heap, ready to bury at some time. Once I had finished clearing up the cottage, I headed over to the visitor centre, where I gave Angus some water and food, and I started to prepare some lunch, just as Matt and Greg arrived back.

After lunch and a chat about what the lads had seen, in the way of damage, which was mostly just fences been blown down, the lads began to help me to clean up the ruins of the old shearer’s quarters and staff quarters, once again we stacked away what can be reused, and the rest was stacked up into a pile, ready to be buried.

Soon after we had finished cleaning up the two buildings in the late afternoon, Jem and Angela arrived at the machinery shed, where we were gathered. “Well you boys have done a wonderful job so far, and so fast too” Angela commented, “We have stacked all the roof sheeting and wood that can be reused into the shearing shed, and as you can see, we have made three heaps to be buried” I replied.

We have just received news that the cyclone is back, it turned back north and intensified, and is heading for Carnarvon” Jem informed us, “Well as long as it stays away from us” I replied as I frowned. “I have cleaned up the shop and office, while you boys have been working out here, the damage was mainly just wind damage, and we have kept, the cyclone shutters on, until the glass can be replaced, and the cyclone has gone away Angela announced.

“What are your thoughts about guest access to the station’s camping area’s?” I asked, “Let’s get the homestead cleared up first, then we will assess plans with guest camping, as you saw in the plans in Carnarvon, we wanted to improve the facilities a little, so lets’ get that started once the clean-up is done” Jem replied.

“Right, let’s call it a day for now, we have had enough drama for one day” Angela announced, as she and Jem climbed into their vehicle and set off back to their place, and the lads and I returned to the visitor’s centre.

I was pleased to see that the centre was almost back to normal, apart from the extra fridges, freezers and washing machines store there. The generator started to make funny noises, which meant it was running low on fuel, so I went around to the vehicle area, I shut off the generator, and topped up the fuel tank, before switching it back on again, so we had power again.

Greg was on the balcony cooking some steaks, while Matt was preparing some salads, and after feeding Angus, I picked up the Sat Phone and dialled the number for my boss in Perth. “Hello, so you have survived the big storm I see?” my boss said when he accepted the call, “Yes, only just, it was a category 5 by the time it reached us, and stopped right over the top of us, till it headed back out to sea.

Only the visitor centre, which includes my quarters, the machinery shed,and the owners house have survived, everything was destroyed, and the shearing shed was the only building that was partly demolished” I replied. “Wow that bad, I am glad that you survived, and I hope everyone else on the station is unharmed” my boss replied,

“Yes, the two bosses and two station workers are fine, we have spent most of today, starting to clean-up the demolished buildings.

Our main generator shed caught fire and burnt down overnight, the solar panels have blown away, the wind generator tower has collapsed and I haven’t found the Telstra Satellite dish or our communications dish yet, they will be around somewhere, I am calling you on a sat phone, which is our only communications at the moment, and we are running on backup generators” I explained.

“Wait a moment, there is something on the news…” the boss said as he turned up the volume on the television he was watching. “We have some video footage, courtesy of the Police plane that flew into the area of the cyclone this morning, with Coral Coast Station, receiving the full force of the category five cyclone. Footage here, shows that only three buildings have received no or very little damage, and what looks like the shearing shed has lost its roof and most of its walls missing.

Information from workers of nearby Minilya Roadhouse, just south east of the station, reveals that the owners and workers called into the roadhouse in the early morning, and they had said that they had lost all communications and main power to the station, with smaller backup generators and two satellite phones keeping them going”.

“Did you hear all of that?” my boss asked when he turned the television down, “Yes, and that is all correct, so unfortunately I cannot work until we get full power and communications back, which could be some time due to our remoteness, and we still have roads blocked from the heavy rain” I answered. “That is fine, we will get by for now, take care and let me know when you are back fully operational. Bye for now” the boss said.

After the call, I relaxed on the lounge, until the lads had dinner ready, and the lads happily chatted between mouthfuls, which was good to see after the frightful night, that we had all experienced last night. Once we had eaten and cleaned up, we decided to head to bed early, so Matt went to have a shower, followed by Greg and finally me, and I let the lads know that I was shutting off the generator.

I grabbed the torch, and with Angus following, we went outside, for a short walk, before I shut of the generator. I slept very well that night, unaware that the cyclone had crossed the coast once again, this time south of Shark Bay, and was continuing to head inland, as is started to weaken as it was heading south.

Thursday February 7th

After breakfast the next morning, I took Angus for a long walk, while the lads headed to the machinery shed in the jeep, to get instructions from the boss, on today’s work activities. After topping up the fuel and restarting the generator, we headed back inside, and I settled into my office chair, and stared at the turned off computer screen for a moment, before I stood up and walked into the visitor centre shop and looked around.

Giving a whistled for Angus to follow, we walked outside and jumped into the buggy, and made our way over to the machinery shed, where there was no sign of the lads, but Jem was in the maintenance area, where the front-end loader was located. “Good morning boss” I called out, as I heard Jem swearing from somewhere under the loader.

“Morning Lloyd, sorry, I am trying to change the oil on this monster, before we start digging some holes for those heaps that you created” Jem replied, “Can I help in any way, I went to my office and after sitting down, I realised I had nothing to do, while we are shut down” I said. “I have plenty for you to do actually, as soon as the road opens, the insurance assessor will be here, so I will need you to show him around.